How to recover files from deleted user accounts

Helproom: deleted identity

By Chris Byers | PC Advisor | 23 March 10

QUESTION A little while ago I deleted my Windows PC user account and created a new one. I wrongly assumed that I'd still be able to access the files on the deleted account. Are they lost forever? Rob Mason

HELPROOM ANSWER When you delete a user profile you're invited to also delete its files and folders. If you can't remember agreeing to this, look in C:\users (where C is your main drive) for a folder containing documents from the old profile. If it's not there, it's been deleted.

All hope is not lost, however, and you may find that a free file-recovery utility such as Recuva can turn up your missing files. Use the 'Deep scan' option if the files have been missing for a while, but this will take some time to complete.